December Newsletter

December 2009 Newsletter

October and November both ended up being busier than expected and I was unable to find enough time to get a newsletter together either month. I have been hard at work on a new album and a variety of other musical projects and am definitely excited about a musically rich December, check out all the details below.

December 4th - I will be performing as an electric duo with Jaran Carson (WigglePuppy) on the drums at the Root Note in downtown La Crosse, WI. This show should be excellent for a number of reasons. First, the Root Note is my favorite local business in La Crosse and is owned and operated by many of my close acquaintenances. They provide a delicious local and organic food and beverages as well as a great venue for live music.

Second, I will playing the show with a diverse group of local musicians that I am excited to watch perform. One of these is local singer/songwriter Nick Shattuck who has been building a substantial following in the area. He has also been kind enough to let me play drums for him during a number of live performances over the past few months, which has been a blast, and I will be drumming for him again for this show. Nick has also asked me to produce his debut album "Chorus & Verse" which we are currently working on at Ghost in My House Studio. Nick is playing shows all the time with a revolving cast of musicians, for more info on his music and upcoming dates just click here.

The show will also feature a solo performance from my good friend and local hip-hop guru Blake Auler-Murphy a.ka. Hyphon. We collaborated on the song Have it Back earlier this year and are currently working on some new material together. Check out Have it Back and more songs from Hyphon by clicking here. Another great local act, Beauford Firebeard, will be closing the show. This will be my first opportunity to see them live and I am really looking forward to it. For more info on the show click here.

December 10th - I will be back at the Acadia Cafe in Minneapolis performing as a three piece with Andy Blessing on drums and Matt Uttech on bass who. My good friend and independent music industry maven Adam Wiltgen set up this show through the Diverse Emerging Music Organization (D.E.M.O). Adam will also be performing with the Brillant Beasts, another favorite Minneapolis area band of mine who are nearing completion of a new album as I type this. Hyphon will also be doing a set at this show. For more info on this show click here.

December 26th - This is a very special show for me because I will be performing for the first time with my brother Mike on drums. He will be in town from Chicago for the holidays and we have been itching to perform together for awhile now. The show is at the Popcorn Tavern in La Crosse, WI. We will be opening for Nick Shattuck, who I will be playing drums for.

Other musical happenings - My good friend and talented singer/songwriter Michelle Lynn was kind enough to add some amazing vocals to a musical track I wrote, the resulting song, "Death By Fear", will be on her recently completed new album, "Pre Echoes for the Post Modern". I also did a little bit of post production work on the record which should be out in early 2010. Her new album is amazing and definitely worth a listen, in the meantime, do yourself a favor and check out her first two albums by clicking here.

My favorite local band, Porcupine, is hard a work on their second record. I am quite excited to hear the new material because their debut album, "The Trouble With You", is still close to my favorite record of 2009. If you haven't heard any of their material yet do yourself a favor and get some more info on the music and upcoming dates by clicking here.

Adam Ptacek and I are still slowly working on more material for our collaborative project, Objective Subject, which is currently about half done. We have been working this one for awhile and hope to have it completed and released sometime in mid 2010. Look for more info in the near future.

I have been hard at work on material for a new album since the release of Vision Question in the Fall of 2008. I currently have 18 songs written and recorded to some extent for my as yet untitled second album. Hoping to pick the best 10-12 songs, with a little help from some close friends, and have the album out in early 2010. More info in the near future.

In other news I have begun giving guitar and beginning drum lessons. If you yourself are interested or know anyone who is feel free to drop me an email.

I am on all over the web on Facebook, MySpace, Itunes, Amazon, YouTube, Twitter, Band Camp, Zazzle, Blogger etc...
As always www.brahmanshaman.com is the best place to access BRAHMAN SHAMAN info and music on the web all in one place as there are links to all the above mentioned sites there.

Until next time, enjoy the holidays, be well and take a little bit of time everyday to do something creative.

September 8, 2009 - Long Weekend

The extended Labor Day weekend was relaxing and productive.

Nick Shattuck began recording his debut album Friday morning at Ghost in My House Studio. He put in a hard day's work and became great friends with the ornery click track and got most of the basic guitar tracks recorded for the album. We will be back at it this Friday and should be able to get most if not all of the basic tracking done.

I will be playing solo acoustic this Thursday at around 7:30 at Blooming Grounds Coffee House in Winona, MN, opening for the Bluff Country String Band. Should be a fun show. For more info click here.

September 2nd, 2009 - What The Hell Ya Gonna Do (nowhere left to go)

Today's featured free music download is the newest song I have written and the last song I was able to get completely done during my recording time at Ghost in My House Studio last week. It is longer than most of my songs and has several parts so it may take a couple listens. Check it out.

September 1st, 2009 - Vision Question (the song)

Today's featured free music download is another new song I recorded last week. I had a love/hate relationship with this song for sometime as I have struggled to present it in a way that satisfies me, however everything worked out great with it last week and I am really happy with how the recording turned out. It will be available for free download today only.

Since it is the first day of September I think it is appropriate to layout what I have going on musically in the next month or so.

September 4th - First day of recording for Nick Shattuck's debut album which I am producing and recording at Ghost in My House Studio.

September 10th - Playing solo acoustic and opening for the fantastic Bluff Country String Band at Blooming Grounds Coffee Shop in Winona, MN. Show starts at about 7:30. For more info click here.

September 17th - Playing drums with Nick Shattuck at Del's Bar in La Crosse, WI. Show starts at 10:00pm.

September 23rd - Going to see Michachu and the Shapes live at the Cedar Cultural Center in Minneapolis. Really looking forward to this show.

September 30th - Going to see Grizzly Bear at First Avenue. I have fallen in love with this group over the past few months and am really looking forward to seeing them live.

October 2nd - Playing two songs live and doing a brief interview on the Decorah, IA's KDEC 100.5 FM Morning Show at about 8:00am. The show can be streamed through the web, check out more info by clicking here.

August 31st, 2009 - Spoke of The Wheel

I was on vacation from work last week so I decided to spend a majority of the time recording new songs. Getting down into the basement studio by 7:00 AM and working until 4:00 or 5:00 in the afternoon day after day was both exhausting and rewarding. It was interesting to see how life would be if my only job was to write and record music all day, it was a blast.

Today's featured free music download is the first song I got recorded last week. I am really happy with the way it turned out and the instrumentation and overall sound is most likely what I will be utilizing for all the songs on the next album. I have been taking a step back from the loud electric guitars and drums in favor of a more emotive dynamic approach that works better with my voice. Check it out and send any feedback you have.

Last week I was also able to take a much needed break from the internet, social-networking and self-promotion and really enjoyed focusing on the music as opposed to trying to convince people to take the time to listen to it.

Today also marks the beginning of a month long cleanse. I will be avoiding all bad habits for the next thirty days including alcohol, caffeine, sugar etc... We will see how this goes. I think if I can get first the first week I should be good to go.

August 20th - Watered

Today's featured free music download is "Watered" from a 2002-2003's Completions.Constructions.&.Works in Progress Disc 2.

I will be playing both drums and guitar tonight at Del's Bar in downtown La Crosse, WI in support of Nick Shattuck. Should be a great show, music starts at 10:00 and goes until close at 2:00am. See you there.

August 19th, 2009 - Wasted

Today's featured free music download is "Wasted" a song written and recorded in 2001-2002 while on the road with Rearview Mirror. The song addresses my growing disillusionment with the minor success Rearview Mirror achieved as we realized our record company had dropped the ball, so to speak, and we were playing shows with no promotion. This resulted in the shows being less and less fun as the lack of any continued success fueled interband turmoil. I was also just getting into Wilco which is reflected in the alt-country feel of the track.